Daily Current Affairs for Aug 4 -8, 2017 ( English )
1. Israel has
launched its first environmental research satellite named
as Venus (Vegetation and Environment Monitoring New
Micro-Satellite). It is a joint venture between the Israel Space
Agency (ISA) and its French counterpart CNES. It was launched on board of
Arianespace Vega launcher from the Europe. Venus satellite will be used to
survey and monitor large areas to study soil, vegetation, forests, agriculture,
water and air quality and other aspects of the environment. It will help to
obtain high-resolution photographs of specific sites to track environmental
issues such as erosion, desertificaton, pollution, natural disasters, and other
phenomena linked to climate change.
2. The Lok
Sabha has passed the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by voice vote. The Bill
seeks to amend the NABARD is responsible for providing and regulating
facilities like credit for agricultural and industrial development in the rural
areas. The key features of the bill are Increase in capital of NABARD ,
Transfer of the RBI’s share to Union government, Adds Micro, small and
medium enterprises (MSME) terms, Adds Micro, small and medium enterprises
(MSME) terms.
3. Maharashtra became first
state in the country to launch two online portals MahaDBT and
MahaVASTU to streamline the process of direct benefit transfer (DBT)
and to bring in more transparency in construction sector. Maha DBT
portal is an Aadhaar-authenticated electronic mechanism that
will enable direct transfer of benefits for over 40 schemes currently
implemented by state’s various departments. Maha VASTU portal is
an online building permission management system, through which
construction approvals will be sanctioned with full transparency.
4. A team of
researchers have discovered solar seismic waves using ‘Helioseismology’ revealed
that Sun’s core is rotating four times faster than its surface. The discovery
was made using 16 years of observations from GOLF (Global Oscillations at Low
Frequency) instrument on Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft,
a joint project of ESA and NASA.
5. NASA’s Cassini
spacecraft has entered in the final year of its epic voyage
after studying Saturn, its rings and moons for more than 12 years.
In its epic voyage, the Cassini spacecraft will make the closest-ever
observations of the planet. Cassini will be mapping the Saturn’s magnetic and
gravity fields with exquisite precision. It will be returning ultra-close views
of the Saturn’s atmosphere. The spacecraft was launched on 15 October 1997
aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur and it had entered orbit around Saturn on 1 July
2004. On 25 December 2004, Huygens lander had separated from orbiter and landed
on Saturn’s moon Titan on 14 January 2005. This was the first landing ever
accomplished in the outer solar system
6. Qatar becomes first
Gulf Arab state to make permanent residency available to some
non-citizens by approving a draft law making permanent residency
available to some non-citizens. It marks a partial shift from Qatar’s heavy
reliance on its longstanding visa-sponsorship system.
7. The Union
Government has proposed to establish an additional 14 new
AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Science) under various phases
of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) in
different parts of the country. Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY)
was announced in 2003.
8. Parliament has passed
the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2017 after
the Rajya Sabha approved it. The Lok Sabha has already passed it. The Bill amends
the IIIT Act, 2014.The key features of the bill are Appointment of Director,
Appointment of Assistant Professor and other above posts, Incorporation of an
institute.
9. India’s first
private sector missile sub-systems manufacturing facility Kalyani Rafael
Advanced Systems (KRAS) plant was inaugurated near Hyderabad,
Telangana. It is 51:49 joint venture between India’s Kalyani Group and
Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd. It has been established line
with the ‘Make in India’ initiative and Government’s
policy to encourage private sector participation in defence production.
10. ISRO and NASA are jointly
working on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission to
co-develop and launch a dual frequency synthetic aperture radar (SAR)
satellite by 2021. The satellite will be the world’s most expensive
earth-imaging satellite till date, costing around $1.5 billion. It aims to
study global environmental change and natural disasters.
11. A high
level committee constituted by the Union Government headed by
Justice (retired) BN Srikrishna to review the
Institutionalization of Arbitration Mechanism in India has submitted
its report to the Union Law Ministry.The Union Govt is committed
for speedy resolution of commercial disputes and to make India an international
hub of Arbitration. So government has decided to look into the recommendations
and amended laws according to need. The Key recommendations are
Setting up of Arbitration Promotion Council of India (APCI), creation of
Specialist Arbitration Bench, Changes in Arbitration and Conciliation Act and
National Litigation Policy (NLP)
12. The Union
Government is going to launch AGRI-UDAAN Food and Agribusiness
Accelerator 2.0 programme in an attempt to promote innovation
and entrepreneurship in agriculture. The programme will help convert
innovative ideas from India’s rural youth into viable businesses startups and
help them connect with potential investors.
13. India has signed
a loan agreement with China led-Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB) for financing of $329 million for Gujarat Rural Roads Project (GRRP).
The objective of the GRRP is to improve the rural road connectivity and
accessibility by providing all weather road connectivity to 1,060 villages in
all the 33 districts of Gujarat, benefiting about 80 lakh people.
14. The ISRO Telemetry
Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) and CSIR-National Physical Laboratory
(NPL) have signed MoU to make indigenous
regional positioning system-NavIC independent from the US clock
system. Until now, the satellites on NavIC (Navigation with Indian
Constellation) managed by the ISRO relied on the US GPS to ensure that the
clocks aboard were working at the high-precision required in satellite-based
communication.
15. The Union Finance
Ministry has launched second exchange-traded fund (ETF), named Bharat 22. It
will help to speed up Government’s disinvestment programme budgeted to raise a
record Rs 72,500 crore in the FY 2018. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are similar
to mutual funds in a certain manner but are more liquid as they can be sold
quickly on stock exchanges like shares.
16. The Indian
Railways has signed its first EPC (engineering,
procurement, construction) contract with Larsen and Turbo (L&T) for
electrification of railway lines.
17. The Union
Government has appointed economist Rajiv Kumar as the new vice-chairman of
National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog. He will hold cabinet
minister rank.Government also appointed Vinod Paul, head of the Pediatrics
department at AIIMS as a member of the NITI Aayog
18. Former union
minister Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu (68) was elected as 13th Vice President of India.
He will succeed Hamid Ansari, M. Venkaiah Naidu emerged victorious by
winning 516 votes, whereas opposition nominee Gopalkrishna Gandhi has
secured 244 votes. Over 98% voting was recorded in the 2017 vice-presidential
election. 98.21% polling was registered for the election with 771 out of 785
MPs casting their vote, 11 votes were found to be invalid. 381 votes was the
quota set to win the polls.
19. The Appointments
Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed S. Aparna (senior
IAS officer from Gujarat ) as Executive Director of the World Bank.
She will represent the constituency of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka
for three years. She will replace Subhash Garg, who was recently appointed
Economic Affairs Secretary, Union Ministry of Finance.
20. August 7 - National
Handloom Day celebrated every year since 2015 to highlight the
contribution of handloom to the socioeconomic development of the country and
promote handlooms to increase income of weavers and also enhance their pride.
The date August 7 was chosen to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement which
was launched on this date in 1905 in the Calcutta Town hall to protest against
partition of Bengal by the British Government.
21. Astronomer’s have found
that exoplanet WASP-121b which provides strongest
evidence about existence of a stratosphere using NASA’s Hubble
Space Telescope. The WASP-121b exoplanet is gas giant
commonly referred to as a ‘hot Jupiter’.
22. An all-women team
of researchers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has
developed a new drug delivery platform using nanoparticles which
has the ability to boost the efficacy of antibiotics at the cellular level and
improve chances of recovery from cancer-related bacterial infections.
23. Research conducted
on Cycas pschannae, a lone tree found in the Acharya Jagadish
Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, West Bengal has
revealed two new species of Cycas to the world. This discovery
takes the total number of Cycas species found in India to 14. The two
species were Cycas pschannae and Cycas dharmrajii.
24. Researchers
from Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru have
developed a highly sensitive, low cost nanometre-scale carbon monoxide
(CO) sensor using novel fabrication technique with potential
applications in environmental pollution monitoring..The nanometer-sized sensor
was made using zinc-oxide (ZnO) nanostructure on a silicon wafer substrate.
Tiny polystyrene beads were also used on the wafer. The nanometre-scale CO
sensor is able to detect a difference in CO level as low as 500 parts per
billion (ppb).
25. India has called
for expanding the areas of cooperation among the member countries of
the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) bloc at 8th Mekong
Ganga Cooperation Ministerial Meeting held in Manila,
Philippines. India and member states agreed to look forward to sustain this
progress in the years to come and in further deepening our mutually beneficial
partners. MGC countries have proposed to add newer areas of cooperation to the
traditional areas on tourism, culture, education, transport and communication to
further deepen mutually beneficial partnership and cooperation.
26. The Union
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched the second
phase of measles-rubella (MR) vaccination campaign in 8 states
and union territories namely Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar
Haveli, Daman and Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana and Uttarakhand in
the age group of 9 months to less than 15 years to reduce measles
morbidity and mortality.
27. India and Iran have expressed commitment for
early completion and operationalisation of Chabahar Port besides
strengthening bilateral ties. The Chabahar port, intended to provide an
alternative route for trade between India and Afghanistan, by bypassing
Pakistan. It will also ensure in the establishment of a politically sustainable
connectivity between India and Afghanistan which will lead to better economic
ties between them.
28. The Union
Home Ministry has declared entire Assam state as
a disturbed area under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act for
one more month, citing various violent activities by insurgent groups ULFA,
NDFB, and others. The Home Ministry also declared 20 km belt along Meghalaya’s
border areas adjoining Assam and three districts in Arunachal Pradesh (Tirap,
Changlang and Longding) as disturbed under the AFSPA for two more months.
29. Justice Dipak Misra (63),
senior-most judge of the Supreme Court has appointed as the next Chief
Justice of India by the President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind
He will be 45th CJI and succeeds Justice JS Khehar. He will
have tenure of over 13 months till October 2018.
30.The 2030
Water Resources Group (2030WRG) has decided to help
the Maharashtra Government to raise $270 million from the Green Climate Fund
(GCF). The amount raised will be invested in state government’s
integrated watershed programmes such as Jalyukt
Shivar Yojana .
Announcement !
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karthigaibalaSaid: Sir when will you post current affairs ... waiting for it..View profileSir when will you post current affairs ... waiting for it..Reply
